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The South Asian Idea is a resource for learning, not a source of expert opinion. The posts on the blog are intended as starting points for classroom discussions and the position at the end of the discussion could be completely at odds with the starting point. Thus the blog simulates a learning process and does not offer a final product. The reader is invited to join the process to help improve our understanding of important contemporary issues.

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It is the dialima of our country that we dont have sincere leaders to run the country in a smoother way. I wish we could make our future generation different from us and could be a true Pakistani in accordance with the vision of our Quaid-i-Azam,

I congratulate you for writing a very nice article entitled “The art of Democracy” which truly reflects that you are a very clear minded, and have a balnce approach about the problems which are currently posing problem for the integrity of Pakistan and its inhabitents. I totally agree with you that there is no harm for the exhibition of nude art in pakistan. Art is art, and it cannot be classified purely on the basis of nudity in it. People who do not like to see it may not see it, and who like to see it let them to see it. You are a great visionary, and a liberal minded person. Pl. keep up writing such things boldly, we like it. thanks.

I wholeheartedly agree with your opinions expressed in today’s “Transformations and Trajectories” appearing in the June 29th DAWN Opinion section. It appears that in India, they are turning the American national motto “E Pluirbus Unum” on its head: Out of One, Many. There is a dearth of strong, transcendant leaders like Nehru and Gandhi (Mahatma and Indira); instead India has too many moral midgets guided by their selfish, communal interests. (Manmohan Singh has the right qualifications and temperament, but is weak.) Look at the cesspool from which many MPs come from – uneducated and unelightened goons and criminals.

Perhaps the communalization started with Mrs. Gandhi with her divisive policies that led to Sikh and Kashmiri separatist movements. Or perhaps it started with the Partition and its politics of division, rather than unity.

I suggest that about the only sane solution to this problem as also other problems in the neighbourhood..is for ALL these S. Asian countries to work as quickly as possible towards a Union of Independent States similar to the European Union of today..

An absoutely essential condition is, of course, that ALL Member States should be serious democracies..Pakistan appears to be finally making a start in that direction..I suggest that Pakistani leaders concentrate on making that a success..specifically towards that goal..Instead of continuing to make “poltical” short-term- effect statements which will keep the temperature adverse and high in India, putting backs up..making that goal postponable or even rejectable by India..Thereafter, hopefully, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka will also be motivated, seeing the initial success, and work towards joining..Later, hopefully, perhaps even Afganistan and even Iran.

This is an interesting idea. But we should remember that Europe is divided ethnically. When you look at things from a distance you notice stuff that you otherwise would have seen. And what I see is that in many cases the ethnic identities of South Asians are more important to them than national or even religious identities. The solution that might work today could be entirely different than what worked so many years ago.

Dr Altaf, Thank you for writing this and making us realize
that our governments have utterly failed us in realizing the genuinely secular & liberal democracies that both the countries’ founding fathers visualized. I hope people like L K Advani in India read your analysis. I have no hope that secularism will triumph or ever thrive in our countries unless we invent latter day Mustapha Kemal Ataturk(s). regards, P. Harimohan

There are 2 things. The rot from within and the external influences that take advantage of this.

India is rotting on 2 fronts
a> Governance that has led to corruption and encouraged crime
While we keep crying like a baby about how Pakistanis do not give us Dawood, we have allowed Dawood’s cronies in Mumbai to prosper. Why have we not broken his network in India?

Our cops are inadequately trained and armed and the resources are not enough. Something drastic has to be done to reform the entire policing system. Any layman can see that they are in no position to tackle even a lowly criminal with a pistol

b> Social and communal problems that give rise to Naxalism and Maoism
Ostracism of the weaker castes in society is still prevalent outside metros and this has fueled Naxalism and Maoism in the country which is slowly spreading its tentacles.

Unless we stem the rot within, outsiders will continue to exploit our weaknesses.

I am less concerned about the corruption. If you see the history of the US you will note the period of the ‘Robber Barons’, the hold of the Mafia, the amazing corruption at the highest political levels (latest in Illinois), and the financial scandals (latest Madoff). There is not much difference in Japan, South Korea, or China. Corruption is bad but really when you look at it, the causality is counter-intuitive: corruption does not prevent growth; a lot of growth leads to opportunities for corruption.

The social and communal problems are a lot more serious. Here the history of the US gives the opposite lesson. When the urban riots broke out in the 1960s signaling the degree of Black disaffection, the state was quick to take decisive action with the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. The remarkable improvement in race relations within 50 years has culminated in the election of Barack Obama.

Here the Indian government has failed completely: At best it is indifferent to injustice; at worst it is complicit (as was the case in Delhi and Gujarat). Given that social diversity is much greater and income gaps much wider, this could be the Achilles heel of the Indian polity. Nobody from outside would need to take advantage of this – the state would collapse from within as it has in Pakistan.

SouthAsian… even after the abolition of slavery, there were plenty of so-called ‘Jim Crow’ laws and until recently there were and maybe continue to be ‘sundown’ towns in the US where persons of colour are not guaranteed safety after dark. even today, the harsher laws (drug war etc.) lead to disproportionately worse effects on the minorities and their communities due to a vicious cycle. we are witnessing a similar situation with regard to the various minority communities in india, whether they are large or small.

almostinfamous, of course, you are quite right. The point I wish to make is one of the trend. What you mention in the US is a legacy effect. If you see the new generation on college campuses it is obvious that racial divisions are being eroded. And the biggest proof is the election of Barack Obama which clearly indicates that the legacy effect is becoming marginal to society. This is not to say that individual members of minorities are not discriminated against at some point or another.

This change in the trend was the outcome of the decisive intervention by the State that I had mentioned. No such decisive action has been taken by the Indian State. And therefore, I am less optimistic about the prospects of social stability in India.

Precisely… we need proper governance first. That’s the main thing. All this talk about war is useless and it’s not going to help anybody. Nobody has thought about
– What the cost of war is. Not just tangible cost but the loss of business
– What will happen if we lose
– What will we do even after we win?
– What if either one drops a nuke?

Dear Dr.Samia,i am of the opinion that you very correct on the article you wrote on ‘The art of Democracy’,you have realy done a very great job,i stongly share the same view as you,please keep it up with this great boldness,thank you.

The essential strengths and weaknesses remain unchanged. I had adopted a simple rule at the outset – if readership continued to increase year over year I would keep it going. That has been the case so far though the learning resource cannot be considered a success by any means.

Since 2008 there have been over 500 posts, 6,000 comments and 400,000 page views. The daily views vary between 200 and 300 with the majority being from India and the US followed by Pakistan. There is clearly a very huge audience of college students that has not been reached and that is the primary failure of the initiative.

My own analysis is that the content needs to be simplified one level but the difficulty is that it becomes uninteresting for me to write at that level. So, at this time the site is serving as an archive for the thoughts and ideas that intrigue me and there is a small set of readers who share the interest. We have conversations among ourselves which I find very useful.

On the 68th independence of India and Pakistan I would like to congratulate you on having such an amazing blog; I did not know that topics like ‘What if India was not partitioned’ could be discussed without going to war. The Colonial powers have played such a game that the world still fights more than half a century later. May be one day we would be able to look past the differences created by these political powers and work together in peace for a better future for our people.

Maryam: Thanks. The day to look past differences and work together in peace for a better future for our people is TODAY. And the starting point is being able to TALK without getting ANGRY. Our LIABILITY is the INDIVIDUAL who can’t CONTROL his/her TEMPER.

Since people keep giving the example of European Union, wouldn’t it be better to give the states and provinces autonomy while coming together as a federation. I guess Karachi and Mumbai could be specially administered regions. What do you think?